THEATRE GOSSIP #381: 'Sondheim Deserves Better 'Company' - The reviews are In....

Last thread here.

Bobby’s sort of a cipher anyway, the neutral thing all these more interesting characters revolve around.

How much is it going to cost to move Beetlejuice? $3 million? The show can't be anywhere near recoupment, so they'll spend additional millions? How stupid are these film companies?

Six is a concert with impressive lighting design.

But it is slight, slight, slight, and dare I say it - a little dumb? It’s witty and sophisticated if you’re a 14 year-old girl.

A fun night out at Off-Broadway prices, maybe, but on Broadway? Nah, mate.

I’m kind of annoyed that I didn’t get to see Tony Goldwyn in “The Inheritance.” He seems much more physically suited for that character than John Benjamin Hickey, who I saw.

Someone in the last thread predicted Tony nods for Paul Hilton (Featured Actor), Lois Smith (Featured Actress), and Kyle (Lead Actor). I think Andrew Burnap could also sneak into lead but I’m only really certain about the three I mentioned. Hilton has a strong chance of winning.

My guess is that since Beetlejuice is going to tour, they need to create a scaled-down version of the set. They will probably use that on Broadway, and close it when it is about to go on tour. They're going to need to spend the money for a touring set, so why not use it on Broadway until they need it?

I listened to the studio recording of SIX today. Kind of fun, some catchy tunes and a few clever lyrics. But it wears out its welcome.

Car Man

Lol, nobody from Inheritance will be winning anything.

R9, Lois Smith is very well-respected in the industry, so I don't think a nomination and win for her is that far-fetched, plus it would give the voters an easy opportunity to honor "The Inheritance" with something so it doesn't go home empty-handed. But like with any other category, it just depends on who her competition is.

[quote]Lois Smith is very well-respected in the industry, so I don't think a nomination and win for her is that far-fetched,

Plus it will make up for her not winning in 1990 for The Grapes of Wrath, which she should have won for!

[quote]I listened to the studio recording of SIX today. Kind of fun, some catchy tunes and a few clever lyrics. But it wears out its welcome.

It wears out it's welcome in, what, 80 minuted? That's quite an achievement.

Thank you, R8, for shirtless Will Kemp as Angelo in Matthew Bourne's The Car Man. I knew not.

"Dance, bitches," indeed.

Car Man was sensational. The video doesn't do the experience in the theatre justice. Saw it at The Old Vic with the original company and it soared.

Hoping Company will be worth seeing. I'm not really excited to see LuPone as Joanne yet again. I wasn't very impressed with her rendition of her big song during the Sondheim concert, the Philharmonic concert, or the London cast recording.

Look for Patti to chew out anybody in the audience who coughs improperly.

“You cough into your ELBOW, numbnuts! You want us all to get the Coronavirus?”

[quote]I wasn't very impressed with her rendition of her big song

Has anyone ever equaled Stritch in singing that song? I don't think I've seen Joanne reinterpreted in a way that was different from Stritch.

Then go check PattiLu's performance of the song at Sondheim's 80th birthday concert.

VERY different than Stritch. Very musical.

Bernie in rehearsals

[quote]VERY different than Stritch. Very musical.

At least with Stritch, the audience could understand the words. But I guess Patti's interpretation of always having a cocktail onion in her mouth was a new take on the material.

I saw SIX in Chicago. It's straightforward, feel-good fun. Great cast--especially Samantha Pauly and Brittany Mack. Abbie Mueller seemed a bit out of place, as she's clearly a bit older than the rest of the girls and wasn't as confident with the contemporary dance moves, but I saw it early in the run and it kind of worked for her character.

SIX and BEETLEJUICE sharing the same block will be a post-show nightmare. I will be avoiding the sea of screaming teens in cosplay.

Here's some fresh LuPone gossip: A reliable source told me that something went wrong during Saturday night's performance of COMPANY, causing Patti to have a major meltdown after the show, and apparently the company had to stay late to address the issue. I don't know any details about what went wrong, will try to find out :)

FINALLY, after 381 threads, r22 provides some real gossip! Bravo!

So what shows ARE going to win Best Play and Best Musical? Are the clear favorites already evident?

[quote]FINALLY, after 381 threads, [R22] provides some real gossip! Bravo!

Don't get used to it.

I was going to take my niece to see Six but the $300 tickets stopped me

R19 - or anyone else -- how was The Goodbye Girl? The score seemed... decent, cute. Were Bernie and Martin Short good together? Did they have as much chemistry as Bernie and Short's good buddy, Steve Martin?

R8, R13 etc. -- The Car Man looks intriguing. Also... can we have some context for this moment???

[quote] how was The Goodbye Girl?

It was deadly dull. One of those musicals that looked good on paper, but really didn't come together on the stage.

Car Man was great fun and a lot of handsome man flesh on display

[quote]Here's some fresh LuPone gossip: A reliable source told me that something went wrong during Saturday night's performance of COMPANY, causing Patti to have a major meltdown after the show, and apparently the company had to stay late to address the issue. I don't know any details about what went wrong, will try to find out :)

How "reliable" was this source given that previews START on March 2? Was this regarding a rehearsal? (I'm giving you an out)

[quote]Car Man was great fun and a lot of handsome man flesh on display

Is there a new production of it? The one we've been talking about in this thread, with Will Kemp, is a video from 2001.

R22 I agree with R30, must have been rehearsal, maybe dress rehearsal. Patti is Patti, always emotional.

It wasn't even real gossip. "Patti has a meltdown over something or other!"

Neil Simon dissed Bernadette in GOODBYE GIRL. The musical's book was his, based on his movie script. He suggests in his bio that he didn't think much of her as an actor.

GOODBYE GIRL was one of those "meh" bomb shows that people forgot even existed, as opposed to something like CARRIE, that's still (somewhat) legendary decades later. Is it ever done regionally? I'd be surprised if so.

If you're not a Simon fan, BTW, his autobio will probably not win you over with his charm and warmth. He sounded like a fairly mean-spirited and petty person.

R34 Mary agrees.

Oh, I'm so disappointed. "Audra's Flattering Black Leather Pants With A Forgiving Elastic Waist," which r592 used for his signature on the last thread, would have made a much better thread title than the current one. If this is the same OP of the last two thread, well, third time is not a charm. I'd sit the next one out, dear, and come back for the one after that, so you can get your creative juices revved up again.

That first song Bernie's rehearsing from "The Goodbye Girl" has a section that's a direct steal from the tag of "The Grass is Always Greener" from "Woman of the Year" (ie, "Oh, it makes you kind of teary, Oh, think about it dearie," is the same as the music for the bridge ("Stop looking glum overcome by inertia, some season soon Tommy Tune may rehearse ya") in "A Beat Behind" in The Goodbye Girl.

Oy you could just make it up r22? See r33 is just dying to agree with you.

There was an audio from the early 1970s tour of "COMPANY" with Julie Wilson singing "The Ladies Who Lunch." It was a world apart from Stritich. The clip on YT of Wilson doing the song in her cabaret act doesn't compare, sadly.

*The audio was on tumblr.

R30, COMPANY’s invited dress was Saturday.

But where is it now, R40? Where is it NOW?

Well, Lois Smith should have won for Bountiful, for which she won every other possible award, but we still have to deal with the fact that the Tonies are only given for shows performed in one geographical area

[Quote] But where is it now, [R40]? Where is it NOW?

Google Drive.

That would have made a great headline "Patti Melts"

Here's the Wilson "Ladies Who Lunch" from the COMPANY tour.

Patti is a fine performer, but what a tiresome bitch. Someone should give her a good kick in the cunt. State your boundaries, ladies.

She needs to grow up.

She sucks as a performer. Sucks as a human being and ugly as sin on top of it all. DIE just die possum face Patti.

I fucking HATE Patti's rendition of Ladies Who Lunch and it pisses me off to think that the number could possibly become synonymous with her.

She isn't playing Joanne, she's playing Patti. She performs that number the exact same way she performs Rose's Turn, and Anything Goes, and Have A Little Priest, and every other fucking song she has ever sung on stage and it doesn't work for Joanne. It lacks nuance.

Patti should never be allowed to perform a song as emotionally layered as Ladies Who Lunch. It's a song that requires subtlety, and she has all the subtlety of a terrorist attack.

[quote]Patti should never be allowed to perform a song as emotionally layered as Ladies Who Lunch. It's a song that requires subtlety,

Yes, Elaine Stritch was notorious for her subtlety.

r27 Goodbye Girl wasn't terribly strong at all - and with a director change and all those personalities, the pressure came through. But by late in the 6-month run , it seemed like Marty & Bernie relaxed, hit a groove and were really fun together.

R49 Her LWL in London was very different from her previous ones. Totally in character.

Patti has her sweet moments, too. I just can't think of any right now.

My sister comes to town this weekend. She’s a broadway lover. We’re seeing Company & Six. She said Six is 90 minutes so I said yes to that. Don’t care how it turns out but happy it’s quick. About Company: I never understood what made Bobby break into Being Alive at the end? I went with friends to the Raul Esparza version and sort of remember Ladies who lunch as the penultimate song & he was shagging her on the side? Am i wrong.? Real question: What’s it all about then?

In the early '70s, I saw a summer stock tour of "Company" starring TV's George Maharis. Joanne was played by Vivian Blaine, who was the final Joanne in the original New York production. As I recall, Vivian sang "Ladies Who Lunch" quite well, but then, she was an old pro, which is more than could be said for George Maharis.

[Quote] What’s it all about then?

Intimacy.

[Quote] which is more than could be said for George Maharis.

He was poor on stage? Didn't he originate in an early Albee play, "The Zoo Story"?

R56 Ironic considering that George Chakaris also played Bobby. Vivian later played Phyllis in a stock production of "Follies" where Hattie ("Broadway Baby") was played by Selma Diamond.

I saw Allen Case as Bobby in the Julie Wilson tour. No one needs to care about this. I suppose he was good enough. Who remembers?

But I did find a photo of him with the Goddess of Data Lounge, Miss Vivian Vance. THAT seemed worthy of posting here.

[Quote] During his theatrical career, Case designed his own clothes, and as the menswear market changed he thought the time was ripe to express his own ideas and designs.

Was Case...?

[quote]He was poor on stage? Didn't he originate in an early Albee play, "The Zoo Story"?

He originated "Zoo Story" with William Daniels in 1960, but of course it wasn't a musical. He was poor as Bobby.

[quote]How "reliable" was this source given that previews START on March 2? Was this regarding a rehearsal? (I'm giving you an out)

Sorry, I was told of the incident without a lot of details, and I wrongly assumed it was a performance because I thought the show had just started previews, but it must have been one of the final rehearsals. I'm pretty sure it happened on Saturday night. The fact that it was a rehearsal rather than a performance actually makes more sense, because I was told the cast was made to stay late to address the issue (whatever it was), and I don't think that's possible after a performance.

[quote]About Company: I never understood what made Bobby break into Being Alive at the end? I went with friends to the Raul Esparza version and sort of remember Ladies who lunch as the penultimate song & he was shagging her on the side? Am i wrong.? Real question: What’s it all about then?

I can only discuss the original version, not the new one, which I have not seen. In the original, throughout the show, Bobby has to deal with his friends constantly harping on the fact that he's not married, constantly asking him why he isn't married, constantly urging him to get married. He's also very careful in negotiating his relationships as the ONE single person a large group of friends. In the penultimate scene in the nightclub, after Joanne sings "The Ladies Who Lunch," she comes on to Bobby, asking him "When are we gonna make it?" This pushes him over the edge. Joanne tells him she'll take care of him, and he replies, "But who will I take care of?" Then he leaves, very upset, and then he sings "Being Alive," which is all about what you give up and what you gain when you're married to (or in a committed relationship with ) someone. P.S. After Bobby storms out, Joanne says something to her husband implying that she wasn't REALLY coming on to Bobby, but just wanted to shock him into REALLY thinking about whether or not he wants to get married.

Thanks R53. I really only remember the actors also playing instruments in the Raul version. Maybe it’s the production. I’ll report back when I see it Saturday.

I believe Jane Russell was the final Joanne in the original run of COMPANY.

R64, George Furth wrote an evening of one act plays about contemporary marriage, to be played by an actor and actress. Hal Prince wasn't interested in that but got the ball rolling on expanding it into a much bigger musical look at marriage and relationships.

Bobby is probably always confusing because Bobby was conceived well after the rest of it. In an evening about marriage and relationships, he doesn't have either, so he has little to contribute. Observing others is fairly inert, dramatically, so Bobby gets to the end of the evening having done nothing but thread it all together. He's a device and "Being Alive" proves it. 'We got nothing, so give him a big song and let's get out of here.'

The very best part of COMPANY is the Original Broadway Cast Album. That's gold. You can keep the rest of it.

[quote]I believe Jane Russell was the final Joanne in the original run of COMPANY.

Jane Russell preceded Vivian Blaine, who played it for the show's final two months.

I saw Russell on tour in SF. Don't remember a thing about her performance.

Cleo!

George Furth wrote a related series of 11 short one act plays which were to be a one evening entertainment. It was offered to Anthony Perkins to direct. Perkins took the script to his then boyfriend/fuck buddy Sondheim for advice on whether to accept. Sondheim showed the script to Prince who thought the stories might be re-written into a traditional two act musical and the character of Bobby was created to connect them. Perkins (who could sing) was originally to direct and star as Bobby but eventually withdrew because he had other projects and was losing interest. The project proceeded with Prince and Sondheim, with Furth writing the book, and became Company.

Cleo Laine should be considered the chief interpreter of Sondheim. Her Sondheim album is perfection. But unfortunately, everyone considers Bernadette the chief Sondheim interpreter, even though her weepy, hoarse renditions don't thrill like Cleo's do.

[quote]Perkins took the script to his then boyfriend/fuck buddy Sondheim for advice on whether to accept. Sondheim showed the script to Prince

Who should have thrown it in the garbage and asked for a complete rewrite.

And why did they interject dialogue into the songs. "Being Alive" should be strung without interruption not with Stritch yelling dialogue in the background. And if I remember correctly, in the show, "Another Hundred People" keeps getting interrupted with the book scene.

The German dyke at The Times is now writing about gay icon Celine, and there's even more crap high-school writing: "Her utter lack of self-consciousness, irrepressible good nature and delirious ad-libbing have long made Dion an eccentric outlier in the often cynical world of pop stardom." Seriously?

Thanks for posting the Julie Wilson audio clip, R46. I've only heard late recordings of Wilson where she barely had any voice left at all. It's fascinating to hear some of those "Ladies Who Lunch" notes (especially the high ones) actually sung rather than brayed by Stritch.

Wilson really put her own stamp on it in that clip. Dolores Gray did a fun version in her nightclub act.

[quote]And why did they interject dialogue into the songs. "Being Alive" should be strung without interruption not with Stritch yelling dialogue in the background. And if I remember correctly, in the show, "Another Hundred People" keeps getting interrupted with the book scene.

Presumably this was done in an attempt to meld the score with the dialogue in certain sections. COMPANY is hardly the only musical that has spoken lines in the middle of songs. I think it works really well in "Being Alive." The first time Bobby sings the song, there are all those interjections from the married couples. Then he sings it through a second time, uninterrupted, with some different lyrics and with a lot more feeling.

>> Perkins took the script to his then boyfriend/fuck buddy Sondheim for advice on whether to accept. Sondheim showed the script to Prince

> Who should have thrown it in the garbage and asked for a complete rewrite.

But he did. He saw it as a two act musical for Sondheim and asked for a rewrite from Furth's 11 short plays and Furth complied.

Tab Hunter, Grover Dale, Stephen Sondheim.

R17 My friend saw Vivian Blaine as Stritch's replacement and said that she was apparently having problem with her dentures throughout the performance. He used to do an impression of Blaine singing "The Waddies WHo Wunch". Oh, Adelaide, Adelaide!

R19 "Goodbye Girl" really missed the mark. Martin Short was fun, but Bernie's role was just a party-pooper, stick in the mud. Every time he wanted to do something fun, she'd do a song or monologue to try to shut him down. You know a musical is bad that you kind of dread having to hear Bernadette Peters do another song. And I'm a big fan of hers. Just a wrong musical adaptation.

R36 I'm OP of last thread about "Love Life" and "Mack and Mabel", and I do not take credit for, nor did I start this thread.

The issue with Company is that you have a lead character who is passive and doesn't really do anything. He has no goals, no stakes, etc. If he, for example, started noticing that all his married friends had less time for him than they used to now that they're married, perhaps it would force him to get more serious about dating and trying to make a relationship last. As is, it seems like they hang out with him more than they hang out with their spouses. He hasn't really lost anything and nothing major is at stake.

There's a slight implication that Kathy might have been his back up girl to settle down with, but that scene goes by so quickly that it never really develops their relationship. Perhaps if she really had been his backup girl and she was going off and getting married or moving to the suburbs, perhaps that'd give him more of a reason to start trying to settle down himself. The Kathy character has always fascinated me, because she only really has that one major scene and you always wonder what their relationship was.

COMPANY needs to be taken back to 1970 and left there.

In its substance and its fluid form, it's part and parcel of that cultural revolution. The following year with FOLLIES, they delved more deeply into relationships and told the story in even more fluid form. The one person in FOLLIES who knows everyone is Dimitri Wisemann and the creators wisely kept him mostly out of the way.

As much as anything, COMPANY is a musical about the birth control pill. Only 5 years earlier, Griswold v. Connecticut established the constitutional right for married couples to freely access contraception. It wasn't until 1972 that a constitutional right was recognized for unmarried persons to access birth control free of government prohibition. Those huge social changes gave all the characters a reason. The changes were all happening to them, and they were all delving in their own ways into that change. It was all happening to the audience, too. And seeing this hip new musical, COMPANY, was part of how they delved into the change. MAME closed in January 1970. COMPANY opened in April. They couldn't be more different than they are. Seeing Sarah seriously practicing karate today is nothing. But in 1970, that was waaay out there. And when she takes on her husband and flattens him, no one in 1970 knew who these people were. It made them so interesting. In 1970, Kathy, Marta, and April were cutting edge liberated women, to use the language of the moment.

To play COMPANY today, you have to invent a social milieu into which it has meaning. Much of what made the characters special has been long forgotten. No one ever seems to crack that problem. It just can't be about a whiny, narcissistic man having a middle-age crisis. And changing the gender of Bobby probably isn't going to change that. It would probably be best to get rid of Bobby entirely and let the couples come to the fore.

But the cast album still sizzles. The music is fine.

I've seen Company with Raul Esparza and Neil Patrick Harris. That's enough for my entire life

r73 please take your name calling elsewhere. Even by this forum's standards it's offensive

Goodbye Girl also had an uncharacteristically hideous set design by Santo Loquasto.

If you mean Elisabeth Vincentelli, R73, she isn't German. She's from Corsica.

R84 Oh try the Donmar Company...you know you want too...

Sondheim should have slapped the incessant backphrasing out of Julie Wilson.

Marvin Hamlisch's autobiography is pretty funny when it comes to "Good-bye Girl"...."And the advance kept building..."

Poor Jeremy Gerard....He still thinks its the 80s and he still thinks critics matter. Its too sweet.

[quote] "Audra's Flattering Black Leather Pants With A Forgiving Elastic Waist"

I *so* hope this is a future thread title

"The issue with Company is that you have a lead character who is passive and doesn't really do anything:

Except that Neil Patrick Harris' performance disproved that. His Bobby was an I-Am-A-Camera marvel of observing and processing throughout the entire play. His "Wow. Oh, wow" at the end of a scene wasn't just a banal response (which is how it can read on the page), but an active consideration. To my mind, he plays the entire role so that it culminates in the epiphany/cri de coeur that is Being Alive. NPH's Bobby, with 35 years' worth of life behind him, has come to a critical juncture in his life and is actively taking stock about the relationships around him and coming to a decision. I never got to see the original production (a little before my theatre-going time) but that concert version was, thanks to NPH, the most successful version of the show I've seen to date.

What about Papi's version of Bobby?

God, that Raul production was terrible. He was a fantastic Charley, a forgettable George, and a chest-beating Bobby. I had a huge crush on him, but it was an embarrassing performance and production.

Except NPH really didn't have the voice to sell "Being Alive."

No love for Barbra's "Ladies Who Lunch"?

George Maharis actually sang (and pretty well, too) with Judy Garland on one of her old tv series episodes. (Plus he showed himself off in Playgirl in the 1970s, a little subtlety but still full-frontedly, so he has my admiration).

That dyke reviewer from the Times is the worst. Even The Post fired her...!

Wasn't the original set of scenes that became Company called "A Chorus Line"? I know Furth got a small cut of A Chorus Line because they had to buy the title from him. And yes, I know you cannot copyright a title, but one sure as hell can hold something up in litigation.

[quote]Sondheim should have slapped the incessant backphrasing out of Julie Wilson.

Listening to that version, I sort of got the feeling that the conductor didn't quite know how to handle the song because he/she wasn't sure whether Julie was actually going to get into the rhythm of the song.

JoAnne is the best role Liza never played.

"Ladies Who Lunch" is the kind of song that is Minnelli's stock and trade. Uptempo with a sock em middle moment. She would have found nuances in the material that Stritch and the others didn't.

It’s not an up-tempo.

[QUOTE]No love for Barbra's "Ladies Who Lunch"?

Nein!

George Maharis had an interesting off-stage life as well.

"In 1967 Maharis had been arrested by a vice squad officer for lewd conduct in the restroom of a Hollywood restaurant; the officer said Maharis made a pass at him. On November 21, 1974, Maharis was arrested and charged with committing a sex act with a male hairdresser in the men's room of a gas station in Los Angeles. 46 years old at the time, Maharis was booked on a sex perversion charge and released on $500 bail."

R106 Had no idea...

Those arrests are what Maharis is most famous for.

I remember reading about Maharis being arrested in a gas station rest room when I first heard about Scotty Bowers, and wondered if the gas station was the one Bowers worked at. The time line might be off, though?

Colton could play in The George Maharis Story.

I've seen Company with Boyd Gaines, John Barrowman, Adrian Lester, Raul Esparza and Neil Patrick Harris, but the only time I've ever felt an actor really connect with that song was Dean Jones at the 1993 reunion concert. It's not the voice he had in 1970, but there's so much going on with him when he sings it.

I was surprised as a young gayling listening to the Company OBC that it was Dean Jones. I had known him as the "Disney Dad" and I didn't think that "movie stars" did Broadway musicals.

R2, dear. That's the point of Bobby.

R102, "Ladies Who Lunch" is something completely outside Liza's comprehension, and she lacked/lacks the precision required to deliver it, anyway.

And this is from someone who loves Lizsha.

It's a shame Liza never played Mrs. Lovett. Now that's a ticket I would have paid full price to see.

Sorry, Eldergays, hadn't heard of Julie Wilson before, but I thought that was a solid interpretation of LWL (though I agree the back phrasing is unfortunate.) The internet tells me that she's sexy Mindhunger daddy Holt McCallany's mother.

The poster who said contemporary settings of Company never work because that social milieu doesn't exist anymore was spot on. Not to mention that, no matter how many alterations Sondheim makes to the lyrics to somehow contemporize it all, the score (the MUSIC) just sounds so of its late 60s/early 70s time. And when the orchestrations try to update that sound they end up neutering it.

It's a wonderfully entertaining PERIOD piece.

Bette Rogge interviews Jessica Walter and George Maharis

R115 The score in London seemed muted. And a little thin.

[quote] [R2], dear. That's the point of Bobby.

Oh, for fuck's sake. It is not "the point of Bobby."

He's the central character in a flawed musical and he's supposed to be compelling and make the whole damned thing cohere. He may end up a cipher, but that's not why he's there.

R116 - HOLY SMOKES, George Maharis was GORGEOUS. Tell me MORE, eldergays! Never heard of him before, but he's so dashing. Still with us and, according to Wikipedia, no mention of spouses or significant others. He's too good looking to be a lifelong straight bachelor, right?

Are you trying to be amusing, or did you miss posts like r105?

George & Miss McKechnie...

Thanks, R119 -- I actually missed R105's post because of the glitchy nonsense of DL. When logging back in after a little while, I've noticed that certain threads don't actually show me all of the most recent posts until I refresh them multiple times. Anyway, that's confirmed. SO... WHO HAD HIM?

Albee, probably.

From a 2001 Musto column:

*

Even camp legend Charles Nelson Reilly mentions the gonadal drama in his one-man show, Save It for the Stage, in the context of describing how George Maharis‘s dick was “the biggest thing Off-Broadway” (they worked together).

I used to watch reruns of the tv show "Route 66" which starred Maharis and the gorgeous Martin Milner. Two guys on the open road in a flashy car. If only they had done a Playgirl spread together!

Has George ever been officially out and talked about it in the media? It's a shame not to get some stories out of an eldergay who's still around and probably had some amazing interactions with other entertainment gays of the 50s-70s.

R102. "It's presssht. Have a little presssht!"

Did JoAnne Worley ever play Joanne?

On what planet is this gorgeous?

r129, you tried to pick the absolute worst photo of him. Try this one.

Did Sondheim and Perkins actually have an affair? Or, were they just pals?

Frankly, Sondheim was never hot enough for Perkins...cute in a menschy way but always very pillowy.

That is an awful picture of Martin Milner at R129. Of course, in "Valley of the Dolls," Milner got to utter the line, "You're spending a lot more time than necessary with that fag." Which, of course, prompted Patty Duke's deathless respomse, "Ted Casablanca is not a fag! [Lowering her voice.] And I'm the dame that can prove it!"

Ted Casablanca was around back then?

I miss the more recent TC--I know he was probably an awful person, but his column was fun.

Ted Casablanca is a character in "Valley of the Dolls," R133. The gossip columnist Bruce Bibby used it as his pen name.

[quote]I miss the more recent TC--I know he was probably an awful person, but his column was fun.

Fun sometimes, but so poorly written it could be hard to decipher. And the nicknames he would devise for celebrities were ridiculous. Toothy Tile for Jake Gyllenhaal? What that hell does that even mean? It was as though English wasn't his first language.

R136 Didn't he out someone and got cancelled?

R136 I remember he used to refer to Gwyneth Paltrow as "Fishsticks."

I didn't notice any egregious back phrasing in that Julie Wilson performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch." There was a lot of awful back phrasing in the most recent Broadway revival of FOLLIES, but I think the single worst back phrasing of a Sondheim song that I've ever heard was what Polly Bergen did to "I'm Still Here" in Roundabout revival. She was great for the part and the song in every other way, but her back phrasing was incredibly annoying and pretty much ruined the song for me.

Just saw Kirstin Scott Thomas is playing Phaedra later this year......hope she is better than Mirren.

I know I can look it up, but what is back phrasing?

[quote]I know I can look it up, but what is back phrasing?

Singing ahead of or behind the music, often for dramatic effect.

R141 Bernadette Peters. Unexpected Song. Song and Dance.

Back phrasing: A stylistic technique where the singer is either ahead or behind the beat, on purpose. Jazz singers typically use this technique, as do some pop singers.

For no reason...

R100 it was not company that originally had the title A Chorus Line. It was Twigs.

Maybe Furth got something as a playdoctor for the musical A Chorus Line, but having considered it a the tile for his play is not anything that would have required a buy out.

I'm not a huge fan of Neil Patrick Harris, but his Bobby was the first one I connected to in some way. He sold the laughs better than anyone else, you could understand why these people wanted him around, and he seemed pretty likable. His voice was a bit thin, especially for Being Alive, but that was the first time I remember being moved by that song, so he must have done something right. This is why I'm glad Sondheim affords the chance for actors to sing instead of singers to act. Actors are able to interpret songs in ways that most singers just can't.

Apparently the issue is with the actor playing Patti’s husband.

And does the actor playing Patti's husband have a name, r148?

terence archie?

Who are all the extras in Company? There are several people listed as "New Yorker." What is their role in Company?

[quote]Apparently the issue is with the actor playing Patti’s husband.

Patti just discovered he's black.

R151 Chorus, essentially. And understudies.

Two of my favorite stagegays are in it, Matt Doyle and Kyle Dean Massey. I wonder if Mrs. Kyle Dean Massey auditioned.

[quote]Chorus, essentially.

There isn't a chorus in Company.

R155 Yes, there is, they were known as the Vocal Minority in the original production - though having taken a look at the photos of them in this production, I can understand them not using that name this time around.

R156 The Vocal Minority in the original Company were never seen onstage, but were offstage (pit?) singers used to augment the arrangements.

[quote]The Vocal Minority in the original Company were never seen onstage, but were offstage (pit?) singers used to augment the arrangements.

Were any of them seen in the Company OBC recording documentary?

R158 Yes

Just got back from DIANA - The Musical. Oh boy. It's EVITA for Princess Diana but not nearly as accomplished. The end of ACT ONE is her "Rainbow High" number called "Pretty, Pretty Girl" where she gets a makeover into Chanel and shit. That's after she meets the people and they sing about how relatable she is (i.e. "Evita"). ACT TWO has their version of "And The Money Kept Rolling In" called "And The Words Kept Pouring Out" when she writes her book. It was so stupid. It's a very boring love triangle story. Diana, Charles, Camilla, and Hewitt. The score is completely forgettable and simple. The lyrics are completely amateur, written by a rhyming kindergartner. It's all slow songs. Only a few mid tempo numbers. The paparazzi have the most energetic song. A lot of rip offs too. One song sounded like "HOT LUNCH" when Charles takes her to see a soloist and Diana wants to rock out and then turns into Madonna in the "like a virgin" dress. The paparazzi song sounded like "BAD MEDICINE" by Bon Jovi. The song Diana sings to her sons is "TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE." It just sounded like one tuneless long dreary weepy song on a loop. At one point we were in "RENT" when she met the gay men with AIDS. Then we were in "AMERICAN PSYCHO" for a fight song between her and Camilla. Another cringe moment. There was even a song about Diana having a fuck you dress where they said the word FUCK like a hundred times. I'm not kidding. There were no standouts in cast. Even the ensemble is bland. The best lead was Prince Charles. He looked cute in his tight white riding pants. They made him look a lot better than the real Charles. The girl playing Diana is very amateur and not very cute. She does not have the charisma and gravitas to play Diana. Nowhere near the real Diana's poise and presence. It was like watching a girl in high school. They also kept her in awful AWFUL dry cheap wigs. Camilla's wig was better. It's DOA. Forget about it. The response after every number was tepid. Sometimes no one clapped at all. It felt very awkward and cringey at times. Only two old fraus in front of me kept saying "aww" and really feeling bad for Diana. Judy Kaye plays two roles and given way too much material to sing. The ending was rushed. Just awful. AVOID. P.S. That Hunter boy that become really good friends with Elaine Stritch was there.

Also about DIANA - THE MUSICAL, the orchestra sounded cheap. I don't know about the balcony but the orchestra and the mezzanine were completely full. Even people standing in the back. Still, the response was tepid. Of course everyone stood during the curtain call. I was in the group running out the door though.

Brian Williams interviewed a doctor tonight on MSNBC who said if the coronavirus situation gets much worse, our lives may be disrupted in various ways from closing down schools to the shuttering of Broadway shows -- anything necessary, he said, to keep hundreds of people from gathering in one location.

Crazy times.

R160 Great review.

R151 -- I saw a bootleg of the London Company -- I loved it -- and I think the "New Yorkers" listed in the cast are extras in Another 100 People, in which they are in a crowded subway car. I don't recall any other scene that had more than the couples and Bobby.

[quote] he must have done something right.

Good. He must have done something good.

In his youth or childhood?

So here I am, standing there.

PFFFFFFTTTTTT. I'm the poor klieg light that Julie Andrews won't stop dishing.

How much of a role do William and Harry have in DIANA?

[quote] PFFFFFFTTTTTT. I'm the poor klieg light that Julie Andrews won't stop dishing.

It isn’t very bright

And must it be so tight?

R160 But should I see it? I love going to a bad musical.

The vocal minority in the original Company were four female pit singers (who also understudied). They were written into the score at the behest of Jonathan Tunick who had recently orchestrated Promises Promises and used a similar device there to give the music a 'contemporary' late 60s early 70s pop sound. One of the women is a good friend of mine and has lots of stories of that production.

Company is just never going to be satisfying outside of the original cast album which is absolutely fantastic, truly one of the greatest. Only the original actor was able to turn Bobby into something, and even he wasn’t able to handle it and had to leave. The character is fundamentally flawed because he’s a closeted gay man’s conception of a single “straight” man who’s really a gay man. Casting it with out gay men now will never work. The closest modern casting would be Esparza who was literally coming out (in a bizarre career ending Times profile) during the production, but it just ended up being a huge navel gazing narcissistic mess (plus he can’t really sing.) It’s a period production that will forever be locked in its period. Casting it with women, gay men, monkeys, kangaroos will never solve it.

Just do occasional concerts of it with a full orchestration (it’s true glory) and be done with it. This new Company, like most English productions of American musicals, will flop.

I’m sure you’re talking about Dona Vaughan R172, a cool lady.

[quote] I didn't notice any egregious back phrasing in that Julie Wilson performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch."

Lol, I mean whut? It’s at the beginning, she doesn’t the start the song for almost a full five seconds, the conductor awkwardly waits, it sounds terrible!

Jo Ann Worley as Joanne, that's funny. I could just see her tossing her feather boa around as she sings "Another reason not to move. Another batch of chicken jokes! I'll drink to that!" (Followed by her loud bellowing laugh.....)

I’m happy Joanne Worley is still alive. I only knew her from Laugh In, but I wish I could’ve seen her on stage. She is an excellent Password player, by the way.

I actually think it helps having a star play Bobby, as opposed to a journeyman Broadway talent. Even when the character is totally inactive (which is about 80% of the show), having a famous face onstage actually helps keep the focus on who the show is actually about. That’s one reason why I imagine NPH was good casting.

[quotes] Esparza who was literally coming out (in a bizarre career ending Times profile)

r173 others have mentioned that 2006 article as being a career problem for papi. That interview was really weird but how did it hurt his career

Has anyone seen "Girl From The North Country"? Not hearing anything...

It didn't. (Unless you thought Esparza was going to become Hugh Jackman.)

Raul was Tony-nominated three years in a row after that article, so I also don't understand those who say it ruined his career.

Before the article, we just thought he was creepy.

After the article, we knew for a fact that he is creepy.

It makes a difference.

Who is we? The casting directors of America?

R169 ZERO. She sings once to a couple of plastic baby dolls when they are born and that is it. R171 Haha. I get that but even this is so bad you can't even laugh at it. It's just so boring and pointless. But go for it if you're curious and have 2 hours and 45 minutes to waste. The ending is Diana saying she wants a divorce. Then she's surrounded by the ensemble listing off her accomplishments and then death as Diana stands in the middle with a white light on her. She exits and they sing real quick about her being underestimated. Blackout. The End.

The Dick Van Patten family, R184

Worley was a strong Stella in Follies (back when it was still a part available to white women)

r187 = Make Stella Great Again

The respect and admiration for James Lipton over at ATC is overwhelming. Lipton spent a lifetime in theater and supporting actors and there is exactly four posts and one of the four is just "at 93 of bladder cancer." Of course if Sondheim farted in the mens room during intermission of "West Side Story" there would be forty five posts.

[quote]Sondheim farted in the mens room during intermission of "West Side Story"

Pics please.

[quote] It didn't. (Unless you thought Esparza was going to become Hugh Jackman.)

Esparza certainly did. He thought he was going to walk away with that Tony and right into Hollywood stardom. Instead he wound up as a third tier replacement on an also ran Dick Wolf show. Every Bway effort he made after Company flopped.

R189, you're wasting your time if you're trying to make sense of anything that happens on that cursed site.

[quote] an also ran Dick Wolf show

Yes papi's theater career didn't have traction the way it seems like it was going to but you lose credibility when you site a show that's in its 21st season as an "also ran." And I think he did 6 seasons so that doesn't really make him a third-tier replacement

Traction? He got into television. Television pays sick amounts of money. For less work.

So Broadway can kiss Papi's culo.

Mmmkay r193.

I'm not sure what happened to Esparza's Bway career. He made a couple of bad choices and then seemed to enjoy sticking to his TV roles,

He's one of the most magneting leading men and it's a shame Bway seems to have lost him

He never became "box office." Most don't.

Phyllis Newman was a great Stella in the 1985 "Follies in Concert" and the Paper Mill Playhouse production with those glorious orchestrations and taps thrown in on the CD.

My friend John told me of a lengthy affair he had with Maharis years ago. Had I known the rumors of GM's dick, I would have asked. Unfortunately, John passed away last year.

[QUOTE] you lose credibility when you site a show that's in its 21st season as an "also ran." And I think he did 6 seasons

Talk about losing credibility. Oh, dear!

ah r200 I knew someone would cite my misuse of site as soon as I mis-typed it

[quote]Esparza certainly did. He thought he was going to walk away with that Tony and right into Hollywood stardom.

Perhaps he could have done it if he had the Juilliard Machine behind him. Those Tisch students just never seem to achieve stardom, do they?

Just stop R201.

Esparza sucks. Nails on a chalkboard. I don't know anyone who likes him.

It's because he's such a big phony. He's really incapable of evoking human emotion in a performance. He just calculates what that might be like and then performs it.

B-Roll Bernie.

I liked Esparza on SVU. I have yet to like one of his replacements more. I wish Carisi would go back to being a cop instead of being the DA's bitch. I hate her and the way she treats him.

Does Peter Scanavino ever do theatre?

R205 YUP. And With that loud vibrato going like a jackhammer. Paired with that fat smug ugly face. Fuck outta here.

One IBDB credit

Right, so Raul is awful...The real question is which of you sluts have fucked him?

[quote]Instead he wound up as a third tier replacement on an also ran Dick Wolf show

And very nice residual checks that most working actors would kill for.

Some years ago, Lucie Arnaz assembled a concert using her father's orchestra charts. She presented an early version of it at the 92nd Street Y. Raul Esparza was her guest star.

And guess what? He was really great with all that Cuban music. I'm no fan, of his, but I definitely think this was the best work I'd seen from him on stage. Casting really matters. And if you need some Cuban charts performed, it turns out that Raul is the man to hire.

I love Lucie!

R212 In fairness, anyone would sound good after Desi Arnaz.

Raul was terrific early on. He nearly stole the show in the Rocky Horror production and he was really good in the off-broadway production of tick...tick...boom. And he was sexy as fuck in Taboo. But then he got up his own ass, packed on the weight and finally decided to admit he liked man ass and all the hot drained out of him. Half his Tony nominations were undeserved. That production of Company was the worst I've ever seen (and I saw Reprise in LA with Judith "Judy-One-Note" Light, Christopher Sieber sneaking ham sandwiches during the other actors' numbers and Debbie Gibson slowing down Another Hundred People so that it sounded like Foolish Beat.)

[quote]and finally decided to admit he liked man ass and all the hot drained out of him.

This says something sad about you, not him.

I think back phrasing refers specifically to singing behind the beat, not ahead of it -- hence the word "back." Yes, jazz and pop singers often play with rhythms and sing behind or ahead of the beat, but I would say doing that is almost never desirable in musical theater. (I'm talking about full performances of shows in a theatrical context, not necessarily when individual songs are sung out of context in clubs or concerts or whatever.)

[quote]Does Peter Scanavino ever do theatre?

Forget theatre, does he ever do men?

[quote] Forget theatre, does he ever do men?

Ask his wife and three kids.

Esparza was ok in "Leap of Faith" on Broadway, but was overshadowed by Leslie Odom, Jr.'s singing.

So ... no one has anything to report from the "Company" preview last night?

[quote] This says something sad about you, not him.

Or it says something about you, since I was referring to the fact that the two happened around the same time, not that one caused the other.

[quote]Esparza sucks. Nails on a chalkboard. I don't know anyone who likes him.

Ah, the usual DL understatement.

[quote] I don't know anyone who likes him.

Well, that settles that!

Raul losing Best Actor for Company to David Hyde Pierce. And not looking too happy about it.

Also, Bernadette and Harvey presenting!!!

Any word on the Cary Grant/CBLuce/Aldous Huxley LSD musical at Lincoln Center that I can never remember the name of for the life of me?

I did not love Raul in Company, but FFS, Curtains was a massive piece of shit that I walked out on during intermission, and DHP did nothing to elevate it.

I'm in the minority in that I though Esparza was excellent in the otherwise unimpressive revival of Company, and I thought he was quite good in Speed-the-Plow (with the blandest of bland Elisabeth Moss doing the Madonna role).

Papi In Company.

I thought Esparza was great in a thankless role— he sang the hell out of Being Alive

Yes, he made a meal out of it. A meal you'd find on My 600 lb Life.

Lets see any of you basement dwellers do this...

I've been hearing good things from those who saw the first preview of Company last night. It sounds as if you'll either love or hate Katrina Lenk, but they've restaged a few things since London and the production itself (and the orchestra) is better than it was before.

Is she using some kind of accent similar to her New Years' Eve NY Philharmonic concert (or any of her NY shows)?

Is she doing that Bjork thing?

Did Tick Tock really get turned into a dance about Bobby's biological clock?

Whatever happened to Fred Rose? He was a very cute cast member of "Company" who was fucking (or being fucked by) Papi Raul at the time. He was originally a musician who had enough acting & singing chops to actually play roles. He was kind of a DL mini-fave at the time, but he's long since dropped off the radar.

I first saw Raul in EVITA when the tour came to Boston in July 1999. It was Broadway-bound, I remember, but it never made it. Anyway, he was breathtaking! Got a bigger reception than Ana Maria Andricain, the matinee Eva. FWIW, I thought he was a very hot/sexy Che, which may have been bad casting because Eva should be the sex symbol of the show, but he just overpowered her in every way (e.g., voice, presence).

R229 Incidentally, I miss the 2000s, when most men were clean-shaven. *sigh*

[quote]I'm not sure what happened to Esparza's Bway career. He made a couple of bad choices and then seemed to enjoy sticking to his TV roles. He's one of the most magneting leading men and it's a shame Bway seems to have lost him.

Broadway pretty much lost him for all those years he was on SVU, except for a couple of limited-run shows he did during his off-time from the series. But he has been doing more stage work in New York since he left SVU. In 2019, he did two shows Off-Broadway, THE CRADLE WILL ROCK and SEARED. There was a lot of buzz that the latter would move to Broadway, and I think it still might, though not this season.

[quote]because Eva should be the sex symbol of the show,

Which is why the role is most closely associated with Patti Lupone.

SHOULD BE. We know possum face is nothing of the sort.

SEARED in no way, shape, or form, should be on Broadway. It's another Rebeck POS.

The real Evita was no sex symbol. She wore nice clothes and was a whore, but she looked like a teamster in a blond wig.

Theresa Rebeck shouldn't even be on Lifetime.

She didn't look mannish, but she wasn't exactly a beauty.

Peasant

She looked like a Russian Serf

The Vivienne was at Tina Turner in London. An unsecured drumset rolled off the stage into the front row.

You guys must be really gay! Eva Duarte was considered pretty and sexy during her actress/modeling days. And she tarted herself up, too. It was after her return from the Rainbow Tour that she wanted to be taken seriously as a politician and altered her style. Hence, the chignon, minimal makeup and skirt suits. She still dressed to the nines on special occasions/holidays, but the aforementioned was pretty much her daily uniform until she died. Before, she tried to emulate Hollywood actresses like Lana Turner and tended to dress like a starlet (i.e., low-cut, strapless gowns, elaborate hairdos) than a politician's wife.. She got a lot of flack for this during her tour of Europe.

congratulations, everyone this thread is seguing very smoothly from topic to topic. Nicely done everyone.

NONE of those Eva Peron pictures look even remotely like Patti LuPone.

I liked, didn't love, SEARED, although I'm no fan of Rebeck. But regardless, the show got a lot of really positive reviews, especially for Raul, and the run was extended, and there was definitely buzz about a possible move to Broadway.

Loved SEARED. Raul was exceptionally good (as was the entire cast), and the plot (though predictable) played out nicely. The opening of Act 2 - with Raul trying to create a special dish for the menu, and with wonderful aromas wafting through the theater - was especially good. The play would work in a small Broadway Theater, like the Booth or the Helen Hayes, but I'm not sure I'd like to pay Broadway prices for this.

Broadway economics is killing theater. IMHO

Raul is the ultimate actor, meaning he swims constantly in his own narcissism. The true story is that the critics' performance of Leap of Faith, he got pissed off at some minor thing before the show, and lost his shit during the performance, and even adding a bunch of profanity that wasn't in the script. The cast was in shock, and the show got panned. (It would have anyway; the central idea was flawed.). He eventually apologized, but by then it was too late, and the cast wasn't speaking to him.

OP, the proper word is “sex.”

[quote]NONE of those Eva Peron pictures look even remotely like Patti LuPone.

I'm pretty sure that wasn't the look Eva was going for.

[quote]Raul is the ultimate actor, meaning he swims constantly in his own narcissism. The true story is that the critics' performance of Leap of Faith, he got pissed off at some minor thing before the show, and lost his shit during the performance,

He also had a lot of problems with Rosie O'Donnell on Taboo, which is probably not difficult because both are narcissists.

I think it's pretty clear that Rosie is mentally ill.

R250 I am really gay and do think she has Polish peasant features. And good hair.

Are you Polish?

R263 No. But I have had a few

I finally bought tickets through TDF for The Inheritance part one., which I am seeing on Thursday.

It looks like I'm running out of time for part two; Is it imperative that I see the second part as well?

[quote]Also, Bernadette and Harvey presenting!!!

Hole?

What does the DL know about this?

R265 It is, but only if you see Part I and find you want to know how it plays out. So, I'd say, see Pt I on Thursday and, if you feel so moved, do your best to make space for Pt II. (And if you can't the script is published, though I do think this is one of those plays that needs to be seen and heard--more so than some).

SPOILER: Everyone in the world eventually dies.

John Barrowman has played Bobby on Company. That would have been interesting.

r269

I saw it but I don't remember anything about him... I remember the stories of him at the DC bathhouse while doing Company though

[quote] She still dressed to the nines on special occasions/holidays

But at sixes and sevens with me.

R265 I thought Part 2 was better. Part 1 has the full nudity. haha. If you care.

R254, but she looked a lot like Elaine Paige.

I have heard the published script is different than what's onstage in NYC. It's the script that was from the London production and a lot of changes were made in between productions.

For no good reason, does anybody have any George Hearn stories?

[quote] For no good reason, does anybody have any George Hearn stories?

I'm sure I can think of a few.

No one has any gossip on why Len Cariou walked out on his Off-Broadway show rather than rehearse with actor David Lansbury, who was going to replace Craig Bierko?

Cranky 80 year old?

Maybe the show sucked and he was tired of doing it?

Barrowman got good reviews from what I remember, but I thought he and the show were awful. He played it like a not very bright frat boy.

Barrowman was really good as Bobby, and the production did what a lot of people on here are talking about - made the show an explicit period piece, playing up the '60s fashions and design

r265, nothing is imperative, but without Part 2 you're putting down a good novel without finding out what happens. Part 2 is not as effective as Part 1 by most measures, but it does have real pleasures, including Lois Smith. If you have any feel for theater history, you'll be glad to say you saw her in this role.

The performance at r46 is very very good. Wilson brings tons of character - the right combo of sadness and bitterness, but with more musicality - and obviously better actual singing - than Stritch. Not to take anything at all away from Stritch who created the mold, but it's great to hear someone actually do her own thing without letting the schmacting the song can encourage overtake the actual song. Brava.

[quote] For no good reason, does anybody have any George Hearn stories?

No specific stories, but ask anyone who's ever worked with him and they’ll tell you that he’s a great team player. A truly lovely guy. It grieves me that his last major credit will be that Kathie Lee Gifford musical.

So what's the word on the 48 minute intermission at the first preview of COMPANY? What's the real story?

PattiLu???

Was it just a technical matter or were the police called?

I come to these threads in an effort to learn more about theater and today I learned a new term.

Stage gay.

Don't know that I'll ever use it but I know what it means and can use it in a sentence.

Just read recently that the musical Waitress recouped all financial outlay by the end of January this year. They in the money now.

What is the word on the Diana Musical? Any Datalounge's seen it?

Stage gay? What's that? Is a stage gay the same as a showmo?

The term is "theatre queen" and no other term will do.

In my salad days when I was green, waiting for the lights to go down I would read all the bios and credits in playbills. Once I saw "Swings: John White and Cindy Green." After the show I was all, Wait, there was no one on a damn swing. It was years before I knew what a swing was. And I learned to stop reading those credits in fine print in the back after all the bios (Shoes by so-and-so, Furs by la-di-da) before a show because once they gave away a plot point (yes, it was the fur).

Ok I'm a newbie, slow down.

Interesting that the Britney musical hasn't any announced NYC dates.

What a loss that would be if the Britney musical doesn't make it to Broadway.

Just when you think Broadway couldn’t sink any lower, they keep digging. Well, when they reach China I hope they get the coronavirus for that alone.

Saw this production in London. The female Bobbie doesn’t work, Lupone is a gargoyle and the book is very dated, a period piece really. I saw the original production during its Boston tryout when in college; it was very exciting and topical. A half-century later...meh. Save your money by staying home and listening to the OBC CD.

[quote]In my salad days when I was green, waiting for the lights to go down I would read all the bios and credits in playbills.

I used to enjoy reading the column where two actors would tell their favorite restaurant. That is until one time I opened my Playbill and there was a child actor saying that they liked a very expensive French restaurant. Then I knew it was all a ruse.

R296 I disagree. Female lead works very well. Patti was excellent. Finally there was a story in it.

R297 A friend of mine was featured in one of those articles. They just picked the restaurant and stuck his picture on the recommendation. He got a free meal. That was it.

Those restaurant plugs were paid ads disguised as a column -- maybe they gave the actor a free meal (or maybe they just got the actor's consent to use their photo, since it was as much a plug for the actor as it was for the restaurant).

Does Lenk use some kind of accent in the new "Company"?

r299 Your friend is a (cheap) whore, darling.

Probably a fat whore, too.

[quote]Those restaurant plugs were paid ads disguised as a column -- maybe they gave the actor a free meal (or maybe they just got the actor's consent to use their photo, since it was as much a plug for the actor as it was for the restaurant).

Exactly. I once saw a fairly well known actor friend eating in different restaurant than the one his photo had recently been used to plug in Playbill. I kidded him about it, and he said, "Well, you can't always eat at the same place!"

I keep hearing that Lenk sings with the weird accent, but she's normal in her book scenes. Can someone please explain to me what the fuck is up with that? The first time I ever saw her, it was a clip of her singing and I figured she was some stunning foreign goddess. Then, I found out she's from somewhere like Chicago and speaks like any other normal American. What's with the accent while singing?

Company - Original Cast Album.

Thanks, r296, but I'll make my own decisions about managing my time and money.

R301 R302 Quick question - What the fuck in wrong with you?

"is" not "in."

R269 The Company production at the Kennedy Center wasn't bad at all except for the execrably smirky stylings of Mr. Barrowman.

R309 Lynn Redgrave was ‘meh’ in that production.

Quick question for R307: Are you new here?

I'm watching Route 66. Lois Smith as Brycie Koseloff.

I'm glad to know George Hearn is nice. It'd be a bummer if it was a trend among those older actors.

Plus George Hearn is cool -- he's done drag in "La Cage" and nudity in "The Changing Room" as well. Plus he dated G, back in the day.

[quote]Plus he dated G, back in the day.

The man is a living saint, apparently.

George is a mensch.

R273 I think Tim Rice developed an Eva Peron fetish while he was writing EVITA. In the process, he named his daughter Eva after her. Later, he began a longtime affair with the first woman to play h er on stage. Furthermore, I remember reading in my Disney Adventure magazine at the time ALADDIN came out that the reason he got the job as lyricist (after Howard Ashman passed away) was because he was hanging about the Disney studio trying to get a movie made of EVITA. Disney-owned Hollywood Pictures attempted to make a film version twice (Streep, Pfeiffer) before finally coming through on the third try (Madonna).

[quote] Later, he began a longtime affair with the first woman to play her on stage

I've got a name, asshole, and I'm a motherfucking STAR!

R296, You are also a half century older. Meh.

Pete Buttigieg reveals his favorite play and musical:

[quote] I've got a name, asshole, and I'm a motherfucking STAR! --Elaine Paige

Playing a munchkin in a Wizard of Oz-themed Panto does not make one a STAR!

[quote]Plus he dated G, back in the day.

They didn't just date, they lived together. Like so many THEATUH people did back then.

Patti LuPone/Kevin Kline

Bette Midler/Peter Riegert

R288 READ the fucking thread.

[quote] The man is a living saint, apparently. —M

You couldn’t make sainthood if you gave up sex today.

Oh My. That's an impressive package. Lucky Isaac.

A cock attached to a dick.

Wait, so Glenn was with Len Cariou and George Hearn?

I guess they preferred short-haired women.

Glenn fucked everyone you wouldn't normally want to go near.

R50 R54 - You want subtle? Here’s some subtle... First subtle, then the terrorist attack!

[R296]: I was also a student in Boston when “Company” was trying out at the Shubert.

I saw a Saturday night performance. Act I was incredible, but Act II slowed down, causing many to walk out. Stritch seemed drunk, and the conductor cued her for the lyrics to “Ladies Who Lunch.” She also had a moment when she lit a cigarette, and decided all the extras on the cocktail lounge set should have ten cartons of cigarettes, each, whereupon waiters spent the next fifteen minutes or so, delivering trays of cartons of cigarettes to each table.

Then, to top all this off, Bobby not only does not finally show up, but he is last seen standing next to this sleek blonde with cornsilk hair, wearing a sheepskin coat, and he says to her something like, “Gee, I love to come up here to the Empire State Building at midnight.” And she agrees, smiling at him. Curtain.

Did you see anything like that?

I saw the show again, in New York, a few weeks later, still with Dean Jones, and the blonde was gone, Stritch was amazing, and Jones was so heartfelt singing “Being Alive.”

Out-of-town tryouts can be helpful.

R329 Yeah, Glenn was a whore.

Company - NPH.

NPH really is terrific in that Company. For that matter, so is Patti. And she's funny, too.

[quote]Oh My. That's an impressive package. Lucky Isaac.

He looka like a man.

r325

looks like all ball and no cock

R335 Judging by his nude pic - big balls and big (soft) dick

What nude pic and those underpants has a pouch where everything is pushed forward. Same with Cris Hanke

r336

nude pic??

Wasn't George Hearn dissed for singing I Am What I Am at the Tonys in a suit and not in full drag?

Surprise surprise the huzzahs for "Company" are coming in at ATC and they are raves. How fucking tiresome. The cast could be blind drunk and vomiting on the front row but Sondheimites will orgasm.

[quote]Sondheimites will orgasm

Pics please.

[quote]Wasn't George Hearn dissed for singing I Am What I Am at the Tonys in a suit and not in full drag?

No one cared as his category was right after that.

R339 While he sings "I am What I Am" in drag and tears off his wig at the end in the show, to get fully made up to do one number on the Tony Awards probably seemed inconsequential at the time. Harvey Fierstein did do full drag for the "You Can't Stop the Beat" for "Hairspray", but if anybody complained in regards to George not being in drag, it was a minimal amount of insufferable people who really didn't think about the reasons why it was decided why he should not dress up for just that one two minute performance.

[R180]. I saw it again at the Belasco. It is very grim and depressing. It does not make much sense and yet.... I like it. I think Mare Winningham is absolutely magnificent. Her two songs are perfection. I don't think it should have transferred but I am glad to have seen it again. I am not a Dylan fan at all but the arrangements are incredible.

[quote] Sondheimites will orgasm.... Pics please.

Oh Honey you do not want to see that, trust me.

Not this one, bitch.

Ugh - I didn't realise that one's login name was obscured after putting additional text in the 'posted by' box.

You should ban me from the Theatre Gossip threads for my stupidity.

[quote] NPH really is terrific in that Company. For that matter, so is Patti. And she's funny, too.

I saw NPH and Patti, which is why I don't need to see the current version on bway

Nobody cared in 1984 that George wasn't in drag....

Chris Hanke has a sweet ass.

R325, when Wesley Taylor was in D.C. a couple of years ago doing Cabaret at Signature, someone came to DL to describe a very messy incident Tay-Tay had on some clean white hotel sheets while bottoming. It was apparently Chipotle-esque. So he’s at least versatile.

Apropos of nothing...Tommy Hiddlestones in Coriolanus at the Donmar. Part One.

^ Part Two.

No buzz on "Diana" on Datalounge? What's with you queens?

Read R160.

R355 We are still waiting to hear if Lenk sings in the style of a vampire.

bump

[quote] No buzz on "Diana" on Datalounge? What's with you queens?

It doesn't look that great, and the era that overlapped with her life as a princess, divorce, and death represents a steep decline in the overall quality of popular music that we have yet to recover. When she died, the Spice Girls were still on the charts.

That = from which

Baz Bamigboye tweeted some more casting for the Imelda Staunton Hello, Dolly! revival in London-Harry Hepple will play Cornelius, the girl who played Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street in the West End and on PBS will play Minnie Fay and the Barnaby will be played by-shock! horror!-a black actor.

Do we have any further casting news on the Jackman-Foster Music Man? (Has Andrea Martin ever played Mrs. Shinn?)

[quote]when Wesley Taylor was in D.C. a couple of years ago doing Cabaret at Signature, someone came to DL to describe a very messy incident Tay-Tay had on some clean white hotel sheets while bottoming. It was apparently Chipotle-esque. So he’s at least versatile.

Wait. Audra's a top ?

Don't ask.

The first theatre victim to the Coronavirus.... stagedoor hugs:

[quote]The Tony Award-winning actor Gavin Creel and some of his cast-mates, currently appearing in Waitress in London’s West End, have reached an “informal consensus” when it comes to protecting themselves from the 2019 novel coronavirus. “We won’t shake hands or hug people at the stage door anymore,” Creel told The Daily Beast. “I would say that people are not panicking yet, but we do want to know what to do to stay safe and make sure audiences are safe too.”

[Quote] Barnaby will be played by-shock! horror!-a black actor.

Gary Wilmot?

Gary Coleman.

Oh, nos! What are the screamy girls planning to see Darren Criss in "American Buffalo" going to do if they can't stage-door him?

Does anyone misread Coronavirus as "Coriolanus"?

What’s the word on Claybourne Elder’s body in Company?

Tyrone Huntley will play Barnaby in London.

Wasn’t the understudy Barnaby in NY a large-phallused buck?

That was Cornelius.

For absolutely no reason...

Epic put out 7 Maharis lps in 5 years....

Original releases 1962 – George Maharis Sings! – Epic LN 24001/BN 26001[9] 1962 – Portrait in Music – Epic LN 24021/BN 26021[10] 1963 – Just Turn Me Loose! – Epic LN 24037/BN 26037[11] 1963 – Where Can You Go For a Broken Heart? – Epic LN 24064/BN 26064[12] 1964 – Make Love to Me – Epic LN 24079/BN 26079 1964 – Tonight You Belong to Me – Epic LN 24111/BN 26111 1966 – New Route: George Maharis – Epic LN 24191/BN 26191

A bit of the Elder body.

Isn't Elder married to some old ugly guy?

The real tea on Raul in Taboo is that he was feeding all of the rehearsal drama between himself and Rosie to Michael Riedel, who used it relentlessly in his column.

"Feeding" appears to have never been a real problem for either Papi Raul or for Rosie.

[quote]What’s the word on Claybourne Elder’s body in Company?

The word is that it's his major talent, as it always has been.

It is frightening to think that theaters could be closed because of the virus. I can't imagine it will come to that; or, at least, I certainly hope it will not.

Crix divided on North Country. Total rave from Dame Brantley and some others. Pans from Vulture and some others. This year's Tony race is wide open.

Just heard from someone in the know that Dame Brantley (or Sister Brantley) is hugely hung. Can you imagine that?

Usually a big dick can mitigate a multitude of sins, but the Brantley face isn’t one of them.

[quote] Isn't Elder married to some old ugly guy?

Eric Rosen, the former artistic director of Kansas City Rep.

Nothing for 8 hours? Is this thing on?

^Have Kelli in The King And I.

[quote]Nothing for 8 hours? Is this thing on?

Everyone either has Coronavirus or is mourning the loss of Elizabeth Warren as the first female POTUS.

Muriel locked it down all day. Again.

That's what you get for your $18. Crickets.

Modern Opera is insane.

I dont know anything about FOLLIES except what y'all talk about. haha. And a couple songs. But this seems Solid. Only version I saw before this was Katrina Lenk as Bjork at Lincoln Center. This is on another level.

[quote]I dont know anything about FOLLIES except what y'all talk about. haha. And a couple songs. But this seems Solid. Only

Unfortunately, they stuck with the Imelda Staunton "balls to the wall" interpretation which does the song a disservice. Sally shouldn't be screaming at the end.

The National Theatre Follies did the best interpretation of "One More Kiss". Nobody has presented it as well as this. This is definitive.

R392 Ok. I thought it was dramatic. haha. Who is the definitive then? Who should I listen to or watch?

R391 That was Sally Desmond from Sunset Boulevard.

[quote]Ok. I thought it was dramatic. haha. Who is the definitive then? Who should I listen to or watch?

Dorothy Collins originated the role on Broadway in the early 1970s. I think she's the definitive. Here she is singing it on a talk show. In "Follies" Sally is a very fragile character and Collins nails it.

Michael Ball does a decent job. Except he doesn't control himself on the "not going left, not going right" line. You see his head twist in both directions which is pure amateur. (And you can see Bernadette Peters in the background grinding her teeth and thinking, "This should be my song.")

This R394. The original actress singing the song.

Dorothy.

Then Cook.

Then... whoever. After those two, it doesn't matter with whom you waste your time.

Have loved Joanna Riding since seeing her in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at the National years ago. The best Anne I ever saw. And great in everything after that. Wish I had seen her in CAROUSEL.

I sort of like Riding's interpretation. At least it's different. The basic staging/costume/scenery seems to be the same as it was with Imelda, but I don't remember Imelda downing the pills with booze, having the smeared mascara, and I certainly don't remember her taking off her wig at the end. I know everyone at DL wanted them to re-think Loveland when they brought the show back, but is that all they re-thought? It's such a bizarre version of the song, but I think I might love it.

But yikes, r400, that Losing My Mind! Too much business.

R401, I don't remember all that with Imelda either. The song doesn't need it. It was distracting.

I did like the use of Young Phyllis in Lucy and Jessie. People always complain that the song is confusing, so I think that actually helped.

The NT production is the only time I've found myself ugly crying at One More Kiss. I usually skip it when I listen to a cast recording, but they found some way to make it absolutely gripping and heartbreaking.

Anymore word on the film version they were planning or has the dismal box office of Cats killed any hope for movie musicals?

Everything important in FOLLIES can be found in One More Kiss.

You really just need that one song and you've all the best of FOLLIES.

So much of the rest of it is just really beautifully composed, truly inspired, whining and bitching.

Be-wigged.....

That poor high school student knows more about life than she should at her age.

I want to commend her fine work, but mostly I want to find out if she needs help.

[quote]The NT production is the only time I've found myself ugly crying at One More Kiss.

Same with me. I think for me it was because of Josephine Barstow. She's this frail woman and you just feel for her because you know this is it for her. There will be no more reunions. There will be no more agents calling with offers. This is her swan song. And the contrast between her and her young, dainty, angel-like ghost really does underline the theme of the show.

lol, r407.

I notice that video of "One More Kiss" is in 1080p - all the better to appreciate the costumes. Thanks for posting. Can some kind soul post the 1080p version to Google Drive or some other site? I suspect YouTube automatically lowers the resolution on feature length videos.

R398, that screen grab always looked to me like Collins just had a stroke.

Are people talking about Joanna Riding's Sally from memory or was the version with her filmed as well?

Collins has off centre teeth - the top weren't in line with the bottom.

[quote] That poor high school student knows more about life than she should at her age.

How quickly can she get to New York?

[QUOTE] but I don't remember Imelda downing the pills with booze, having the smeared mascara, and I certainly don't remember her taking off her wig at the end

She didn't do any of that

[quote]Are people talking about Joanna Riding's Sally from memory or was the version with her filmed as well?

No, r391 posted Riding's performance that an audience member filmed.

Ah, thanks. I must have that poster blocked.

Bette Midler's Rose's Turn from some concert - at the end she sums up everyone's thoughts

Was Alexander Hanson the only other major change in the return engagement of the NT Follies? Does anyone have the full bootleg?

R419 You can se the full cast on the Follies Wiki page

I saw Riding’s Sally in person and thought it was mostly very smart, truthful, and on point. She sort of screamed her exit (“Oh God, it is tomorrow”), which lessened my respect for the performance - even though I suspect it was Staunton’s acting choice.

Alexander Hanson was good, but not nearly as effective as his almost perfect Fredrik.

I hate when Roses play the "Mama... Mama" as if they're talking to "Mama."

Not another discussion on Follies please.

Every Broadway thread has to turn into a dissertation on either Company or Follies. And since the former is currently being produced for the thousandth time, can we abstain from talking about the latter?

I'm so glad I saw Joanna Riding in Follies rather than Imdela. I think Imelda is very talented but can be hit or miss when it comes to theatre. Also, West End producers regularly cast her in productions even if she is all wrong for the part. I've been contemplating getting tickets to see her in Hello, Dolly! But I'm worried she'll be a total miscast.

I have to admit, I loathed the use of the camera in the "Live, Laugh, Love" number and I could never get into the "Losing My Mind" staging.

I don't recall Staunton screaming "Oh, God! It is tomorrow." Have we devolved to insults that only relate to performances in our mind?

Imelda will not flunk Dolly. She has a lot of experience in comedy.

She's a highly skilled actress. But, yes, that's going to be the pushiest Dolly EVAH!

Some of the niggling issues with the NT Follies are why I hoped it would come to New York and those things could be fixed.

R425 She absolutely did scream it

[quote]I think Imelda is very talented but can be hit or miss when it comes to theatre.

She is extremely talented, but the last few years she's gotten lazy. All her acting lately is screaming and overblown. We wish the subtlety of Vera Drake, which has one of the most brilliant performances from her. Look at her acting when the police come to her house. It's just brilliant.

I was so excited to hear that Staunton had been cast as Rose, because it seemed like one of those inspired, out of the box choices like when they cast Tyne Daly in the role and she ended up being so magnificent. I've always thought the best Roses are the ones that you'd least expect. When they cast a big Broadway diva in the role, it always ends up being sort of disappointing. There weren't many surprises when Peters and LuPone played the role. You knew exactly how they'd play everything from the get-go.

Anyway, I remember being so disappointed when I finally saw her performance on PBS and she just brayed every line and seemed ready to go into "Rose's Turn" from her first entrance. Are there any legitimate fans of her performance? I can't see anyone appreciating such a nuance-free scream fest.

I agree R 422. Didn't Sondheim even make a note in his book about how so many people have misinterpreted the "m..m...mama" portion of that song? You'd think he'd be the definitive word on it since he wrote the goddamn thing, but nope. Maybe they think it'll make Rose more likable if she's still looking for her own mother, but it doesn't really hold water. If anything, it seemed like she wanted her father's approval more.

There's that one brief line in the 2nd scene where he says "and you'll leave them just like your mother left you" and Rose cries out "never!", but it's never brought up again.

R422 How should it be played?

R430 Yes! Her performance in that film is truly breathtaking. She is also fantastic in her small role in Another Year. There's no denying she's a skilled actress. Maybe it just boils down to two different acting styles; theatre and film. Regardless she has proven how capable she is many times.

[Quote] Are there any legitimate fans of her performance?

The BBC taping? No.

I saw her in person, though. She was great. "Aurora" on YouTube should post some excerpts from the audio bootlegs.

[Quote] How should it be played?

I'm suggesting there's only one acceptable interpretation.

R433, Sondheim has stated that the stuttered Mama's in that song are supposed to be Rose's mental break and she's flashing back to the previous scene where Louise tells her "Mama, you've got to let go of me." It's her coming to terms with being thrown out and left alone, which goes into her "why did I do it" section.

It doesn't usually matter, because most people play it with so little nuance that they just seem angry from the first lyric to the last. It's a three act play of a song, but most people just play one act the entire time.

r437

any good examples of someone doing it well?

R418, God love her, but Bette easily does the worst "Rose's Turn" out of anyone who's ever played the role. Usually, the actress can make me feel something at some point during the song, but she's all posing, cheeky glances, and bug eyes. There are moments of her TV movie where she's pretty good, but she feels so phony during that scene.

I loved what Staunton did with Rose. LOVED. Like it or not, from the first scene when she was so rough on those kids, she gave us a very real picture of a very narcissistic, mentally ill woman and the damage she can do to the family around her. She wasn't just charmingly prickly. She was full on mentally ill.

I especially loved that her very different take on Rose gave Lara Pulver the opportunity to give us a new Louise. She carried her trauma right below the skin and she had learned from painful experience how to co-exist with her mother. This Louise definitely learned over the years how to lay down a boundary and enforce it, something absolutely necessary in a home where there is mental illness.

The last exchange was brilliantly directed. It's always so phony when the two characters all of a sudden kiss and make up as the curtain falls. Lara Pulver walked out and left her mother standing there. Cold, for sure. But exactly what a woman might do who had years of experience in dealing with that particular Rose.

I found it to be a very real take on GYPSY. The choices that the director and leading actors made propelled that narrative perfectly.

I will give the Staunton production it's ending. It was a nice mix between the incredibly cruel ending of the LuPone production and the cheesy, forced feel-good junk that had been fed to us in every other production.

Patti....losing her mind.

George Maharis was one of the inspirations for Leonardo’s character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and I tried to find him for a story I wanted to write for an entertainment publication when the movie came out. Though he is apparently still alive (at 91!), I couldn’t track him down.

R438 as insanely angry as the rest of her performance is, Imelda Staunton actually does one of the best "Rose's Turn"s I've seen. If she'd built up to it more throughout the night, it would have been volcanic, but isolated by itself it's pretty fantastic.

Also, Bernadette Peters does a brilliant version of the song and it was easily the highlight of her performance as Rose, which had a few great moments, but wasn't a great fit for her.

Yes, r438, Miss Kay Medford sets the bar tremendously high.

Maharis was still handsome when this photo was taken. (Don't mention the hurr.)

R429, I remember it quite clearly and commented about it to several people at the time. This happened as she was navigating over the deteriorated seats on her way out of the theater. Sorry your memory is not great and that you blame others for your lack of recall.

R440, there was one moment of that production that really took me aback where Rose brings her kids home after the opening scene with Uncle Jocko and she's looking at herself in her compact. Louise comes in and says "I performed" and Imelda does this sneer and says "yeah, it ain't the same." That sets up who this Rose is perfectly. It was such a cold and horrifying moment, I remember gasping. I realized then we were going to get Gypsy directed as if it were Mommie Dearest: The Musical.

I don't think she did it in the broadcast (or at least, it didn't register for me) but I loved how when Louise went to hug Rose, Imelda went stiff and almost had to force herself to pat the child. It made sense with the gruff father we see, and the absent mother she had.

I do seem to remember that from the broadcast R449. You immediately know who the favorite child is right from the get go. I liked that aspect of it. It puts you more on Louise's side from the start when you see what she's had to do just to be noticed.

Michael Ball's "Losing My Mind" is not very good. The vibrato is too heavy, some of the phrasing is bad, and he sings a wrong lyric right at the beginning. (It's "I want you so, it's like I'm losing my mind, " not "I love you so," Michael. There's actually an important difference there.)

Here's a vid of another very young person singing the song. Camera work is not great, and the piano player messes up a little bit once or twice, but the singer's performance is much better than MB, I would definitely say.

For the lesbians...

Annie Get Your Gun with Mary Martin and John Raitt.

[quote]Tyrone Huntley will play Barnaby in London.

My Barnaby was adored by millions.

Having seen Miss Brantley in person several times (once sitting directly behind him off-Bway), I can vouch for this much....

She is horrifying to behold. Worse than she appears on TV, even.

I guess if I looked like that I'd have an axe to grind as well.

Musical Theater friends were sharing a long, somewhat nasty post from an accompanist yesterday where the woman said some useful things about how to deal with a piano player at an audition, but many nasty, bitter things. Did anyone see this? I can't find it anymore. Lots of people praising her "you go girl lol, etc" And now she apparently took it down after backlash. I read it and it was pretty mean. Does the union allow this kind of person to abuse its actors?

393 - I'll take seeing Rosalind Elias and Leah Horowitz in the 2011 Broadway revival over that London cast. The London performers were... fine... but I thought the elder actress was too forceful -- she moved like a linebacker and the younger actress had a nice voice, but didn't seem like much of an actress. I think Elias and Horowitz (not to mention the FAR superior orchestra and musical direction on Broadway) trumped that NT version.

I saw "West Side Story" last night and thought it was simply awful. The color-blind casting didn't even factor into it for me, it was the stupid fucking video. What is this, a Broadway show or a movie? If the latter, I could've saved my money and just paid $15 for the Spielberg version. The only thing that gave me pause was the gorgeous voice that came out of the kid who played Tony. He sang it beautifully and deserved a much better production than what he gets out of this ridiculous revival.

[quote]I'll take seeing Rosalind Elias and Leah Horowitz in the 2011 Broadway revival over that London cast.

I had to shut it off. The vibrato on that Younger Heidi was making me seasick.

I've had some crappy audition pianists who have attempted to give me a hard time when the song was more 32 bars (but is very fast) when the Equity Principal audition description was a brief song (cut down by another coach who plays auditions to about 1 minute anyway); others have told me the accompanist tried to refuse to play a song someone brought, made a fuss, played it badly, the wrong tempo. I once brought in a pretty easy Cole Porter song and the accompaniment came out sounding like that of a piece written by Krzysztof Penderecki! So some accompanists really suck! Some of the them, on the other hand, are great and can play practically anything you hand to them and are a real pleasure to perform alongside.

That's what i've heard, r459! This woman who wrote the facebook post was saying things like "don't lean in to give me long instructions - your breath stinks" etc. Sounded like an asshole.

For absolutely no reason...

R457 Totally agree, Isaac Powell (Tony) was brilliant. Voice of an Angel. Should have been nominated a couple of years ago for Once on this Island, but this will be his year for a nomination. Only real competition for the win is Aaron Tviet for Moulan Rouge or Rob McClure in Mrs Doubtfire

Mulan Khmer Rouge arrives on Broadway in the fall. No, Lea Salonga isn’t in it.

[quote]Mulan Khmer Rouge

Is that a joke? I can't tell anymore.

[quote]This woman who wrote the facebook post was saying things like "don't lean in to give me long instructions - your breath stinks" etc. Sounded like an asshole.

I think it's clear she was going for humor in some of her comments, but sadly, it did not work.....

On the other had, she was making fun of and venting about auditionees as a huge, general group, rather than any individuals by name, so the human turd SJWs who are attacking her for this and trying to make a huge deal of it are insane and out of control.

I just don’t understand this trashing of Ben Brantley’s looks.

Besides Powell, Tveit and McClure, who are the out-and-out male musical leads this season?

Who cares about Ben Brantley's face? It's his awful writing that is the problem.

And why has the NY Times kept him in that job for so very long? They lost their minds when they have to see that many productions each season.

Aaron Tveit is gay? And out??

Out-and-out as in clearly defined, smarty pants.

Twenty years ago when Ben would read his theater reviews on QXR in the morning, I would cringe. What a faggy voice!

And deceased retailing czar, Kal Ruttenstein of Bloomingdale's, referred to Ben as "that faggot who used to write about blouses for Women's Wear Daily."

I saw The Inheritance part one last night (thanks tdf) and loved it -- it moved at a fast pace, ( I never looked at my watch once,) was funny and sad and I identified with and/or recognized the stories of me and some of my friends.

But part two hasn't been on tdf lately. And I don't know if i can afford part two either thru a playbill discount or the tkts booth.

Should i bite the bullet and find the funds to see part two, or just let it go...?

R472 - I loved the actor who plays the partner of John Benjamin Hickey / Tony Goldwyn. Beautiful, soulful performance.

R472 Do it! Even if you have to sign one of those pre-natal agreements.

[R390]: That ”Akhnaten” opera excerpt looks like a high school pageant for aliens.

ok that accompanist is a fucking piece of work. In the age when a compliment is considered harassment, writing a diatribe about your vindictive attitude toward actors is acceptable? No. Fuck that. She is creating a hostile work environment.

R404, I know the choreographer of the NT production tried to sell this talking point, but no, no one was confused by Lucy and Jessie.

Until the NT people tried to sell it, no review, online post, and I would bet no conversation ever expressed confusion over Lucy and Jessie.

Has anyone seen Virginia Woolf yet? The buzz is great on BWW. Tony #3 for Metcalf? I hope so!!!

R467, Rob McClure?

He is married to Maggie Lakis, an actress. They met while performing in Grease in 2005. The couple has a daughter born on December 9, 2018.

R467, There are numerous twinks who Aaron found attractive at stage doors and accompanied him home over the years.

McClure is an amazing actor and as much as I hate the idea of Mrs. Doubtfire, I hope this is his big break.

Best thing I ever saw him in was Amadeus at the Walnut. If it had been a Broadway production, he would have won the Tony for sure.

I, too, initially misread "out-and-out male musical leads" as meaning "openly gay," but then I took the time to re-read the phrase, and it was clear that's not what the poster meant. The poster meant, who are the male actors in musicals who would clearly be nominated for awards in the leading, rather than featured, categories. The point being that it doesn't seem like there are very many potential nominees.

McClure has been excellent every time I've seen him, even in the flops. But he was particularly great in WHERE'S CHARLEY?

Hey DL: it's the high-NRG dance mix you didn't know you needed... but you DO.

LOSING MY MIND: A SONDHEIM FEVER DREAM!

R483, He was outstanding in Chaplin.

Who the fuck cares to remember CHAPLIN?

I saw "Company" last night. There's a lot I could say, but the biggest problem is Katrina Lenk. Way too cold, no star quality and her singing is, well, not great. Why this is character is so beloved by all her married friends is inexplicable, and so the whole show becomes rather pointless. That said, the audience loved it. I guess Lenk is the "it" girl of the moment, but her casting baffles me.

R487, that show was pointless long before Katrina Lenk took the stage.

It's a hip and edgy look at contemporary relationships 50 years ago with a 50 year old book and a 50 year old score. Nothing wrong with any of that, except that a Broadway production, at this point in history, is pointless.

The contemporary psychology which the show rests on is only a little more modern that the contemporary psychology underpinning The Bad Seed.

I hated the updating of "Another Hundred People," especially the arrangement.

[quote]I saw "Company" last night. There's a lot I could say, but the biggest problem is Katrina Lenk.

Does she sing with the Bjork accent or do it regular American English?

R487 They should have brought West End Bobbie and several other actors to Broadway.

Yes. Rosie Craig is fantastic.

[quote] R437 any good examples of someone doing it well?

C'mon we know R437 thinks no one does it well as R437 himself.

R390, where’s part 2??

R472 There are rear mezz seats available for less than TDF prices for part 2 if you just want to see it, and I'd bet there'll be at least a 50% TKTS discount on other seats. It's definitely worth seeing. I actually enjoyed part 2 more than part 1, part 2 leans into the more soap opera elements of the play, Lois Smith is great, and the brunch party scene with Henry and all of the young gays is one of the most moving in the whole play.

R494 Here you go, charmer.

Act 2.

R494 Act 3.

I love the links to shows, and love all the people who post them. Cheers to you.

They're a much needed shot in the arm for this thread, so we don't all bore ourselves comatose arguing about another Sondheim revival.

For those of you who have attended Company previews already, what about the rest of the cast other than Katrina? Anyone stand out?

The Lehman Trilogy -Act One.

Lehman Trilogy - Act Two.

Lehman Trilogy - Act Three.

To whoever is posting those links to the plays: I can not thank you enough. They are fantastic. Thank you.

I got curious about Tyne Daly in Gypsy and found some tape on YouTube. There are a couple of links for scenes.

I will post what I can before I get thrown into restricted prime time again.

She really did give a great performance. Wish I could have seen it live.

Tyne Daly Gypsy

Oh, Tyne was amazing. A real actor playing that role made all the difference.

This video is not very good but this is Tyne doing Rose's Turn.

If only she were a singing actor.

r508 Exactly. Her singing was shit.

R509 To be fair, Rose is not supposed to be a trained or professional singer, so it's okay for the actress to not have a good voice.

Coke or SlimFast?

[Quote] To be fair, Rose is not supposed to be a trained or professional singer, so it's okay for the actress to not have a good voice.

I hope this is a parody post.

DL fave Pam Myers - "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

Just got in from a matinee of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and agree, as someone posted above, that Laurie Metcalf will be a near-lock for the Tony. Her star name aside, it's the kind of role awards voters usually love -- emotional, overwrought, and physically taxing -- so much so that you may find yourself, as I did, even feeling a bit scared for her because I can't imagine how she's going to do that 8 times a week (and twice on Saturdays). That said, the play isn't perfect -- it's draggy in spots and frankly I found the role of Honey to be thankless, not to mention the fact that you sit there wondering -- as one woman behind me said out loud when the lights came up at intermission -- why the fuck don't those people just go home?

Tyne at least knew her limitations and rarely went for a big note she knew she couldn't hold. Her voice was sort of light, but her acting more than made up for it. I've seen every major Rose since Lansbury and Daly was easily the best. She didn't forget that act 1 is basically a musical comedy and act II is only when things really begin to get dark and dramatic. So many other Roses like to play the tragedy from their first entrance and make Rose already bitter and hopeless. With Daly, you saw a scrappy woman who refused to let go of her dreams and she had a really charming and contagious optimism that made you realize why people were drawn to her and why they stayed for as long as they did.

I so wish she'd gotten the TV movie instead of Midler, who was pretty awful.

The answer is pretty obvious. She is the daughter the college president. Would you decline or walk out on your boss?

The answer is pretty obvious. She is the daughter the college president. Would you decline or walk out on your boss?

R513, Pam sure does sing the shit out of that song. I heard from someone who saw her in a production of the show regionally and they said she sang it brilliantly, but wasn't much of an actress. Certainly explains why, after Company, she didn't really rise to the ranks of the major Broadway divas. She definitely had the voice, but she never struck me as a very good actress.

If only cutting off notes was Daly's sole issue...

Pam sings Bernie.

In all fairness, that cast recording is shit. They shouldn't have even bothered although the orchestra sounds great.

Sorry, R516, but daughter of the president or not, if she and her husband are yelling and screaming at each other and breaking wine bottles, etc., I'm leaving. And I don't think it's a stretch to say most other sensible people would as well.

By the way, I forgot to mention that Rupert Everett is quite good as George but he takes a while to catch up with Metcalf, who hits the ground running from the moment the curtain goes up. But once he does, it's fireworks all the way.

Maybe Nick and Honey aren't so easy in each other's company. And maybe he would quite like to hump the hostess.

Having seen Daly twice, I felt it was a different show with a real actress in it, but that was also a liability. She had less talent at allowing the scenes to build to the musical numbers.

Pamela Myers became a co-star on the ShaNaNa series and did some wonderful duets with the great Johnny Contardo. It was a very good vehicle for her somewhat abrasive personality.

I can see wanting to hump Liz or Kathleen but Imelda or Metcalf are a stretch. You would have be drunk to jump that.

Imelda is in great shape, which was rather against the stage directions for Martha.

Sometime you intuit that someone is a good fuck. Looks can not matter at all.

It's okay if you do r527.

We won't take you gay card away.

Is a poster really trying to say Imelda was good in Gypsy? Because we have seen the evidence...

There's other evidence...

In Tyne's defense, she really worked on her voice after Gypsy and it improved dramatically. I'm guessing she very much enjoyed doing a musical and, wanting to do more, knew people had criticized her voice, so she put in the work to make it better. If you listen to the recordings of On the Town and Call Me Madam you'll hear a much improved voice.

Tyne was absolutely wonderful in "Gypsy", crowd roars and a Tony. Some of you Queens are just insufferable.

Daly was sick when the cast album was recorded. But that's show biz.

R533 Why didn't they wait for her to recuperate?

How was Russell Tovey, r514?

I'm sure it would have cost them money to change the recording date for Daly's cast recording. These things are booked months in advance. They really should have just forgotten about it. I doubt it was a big seller anyway and even if someone enjoyed her performance live, I doubt they were dying to hear her sing those songs again on CD.

And I saw her 4 times. She really was that brilliant in the role, but they'd have been better off filming the production for PBS than bothering with a cast recording. When you saw her perform those songs live, she was genius, but even without a cold, I don't think her brilliance would have come across on a cast recording. You really did have to see it. Thankfully, there are some decent bootlegs out there of her in the show.

[Quote] If you listen to the recordings of On the Town and Call Me Madam you'll hear a much improved voice.

Non-singers can get away with one off concerts. It's the run that proves challenging.

Uta did have a love affair with Paul Robeson, so she must have been really something!

And Stritchie had a hot date with Brando.

But Stritchie demurred ultimately, something she regretted, especially since Brando later on lost his, um, figure.

Does anyone have a copy they could post of the Merrily We Roll Along documentary "Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened."

[quote]Uta did have a love affair with Paul Robeson, so she must have been really something!

And one time while they were doing it, her husband, Jose Ferrar, walked in on them.

[quote] Does anyone have a copy they could post of the Merrily We Roll Along documentary "Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened."

It's on Netflix

Can you imagine how fast the Coronavirus would work its way through the cast of a Broadway musical?

R542 Sure.

>>And one time while they were doing it, her husband, Jose Ferrar, walked in on them. [Uta and Marlon]

I hope Jose had the good sense to join them

R520 - Thanks for posting that. When was that production? Sometime in the early 90s, it looks like? Did Pamela Myers end up having a 'day job'? How does someone with such scarce credits pay the rent?

Guffaw at the idea of Aaron Tveit being a contender for the Tony for MOULIN ROUGE. He may get nominated because of an insane dearth of possible nominees, but that'd be the only way, and he's definitely not going to win. He's giving one of the weakest lead performances in a Broadway musical I've ever seen, and I saw GLORY DAYS and IN MY LIFE. (And I liked Tveit in NEXT TO NORMAL and thought he was passable in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN .)

[quote] Did Pamela Myers end up having a 'day job'? How does someone with such scarce credits pay the rent?

I heard from a very reliable source that the dress that Pamela Myers wears in the Company Reunion Concert is one that Elaine Stritch gave her because she didn't have enough money to purchase a decent looking dress. Apparently, Stritch took one look at what Myers was going to wear and said, "That will never do. And went into her own closet and pulled a dress out."

Did they used to pre-record the performances from the Tony Awards rather than perform them live on the telecast? I get the impression this isn't actually being performed/filmed live in front of the audience. Am I wrong?

R559 If the show is set reliant they do it in its home theatre.

R535, Russell was fine -- I could see him getting a Tony nom for featured, though can't imagine he'd win (I think Paul Hylton from "The Inheritance" may be more of a contender). The problem with Nick's and Honey's roles is that they're completely drowned out by George and Martha, who devour everything in sight.

[quote]Did they used to pre-record the performances from the Tony Awards rather than perform them live on the telecast?

I think many of them these days they lip synch. It's well known that they record the song a few days before the Tonys just in case someone gets sick.

"as one woman behind me said out loud when the lights came up at intermission -- why the fuck don't those people just go home?"

the mundane observations of a literal dimwit

Lehman Trilogy was easily a half-hour overlong and the Story-Theatre narration wore out its welcome even before that. Much ado about nothing (which is why I didn't bother with The Inheritance).

[quote] If the show is set reliant they do it in its home theatre.

That doesn't appear to be the case these days. It seems like every number is performed at Radio City (or the Beacon etc.)

Anyway, any context on this??? Donna Murphy (and Petula Clark?) in Gypsy?

R506. I agree that Daly acted the hell out of the role (and, at the performance I attended, sang it very well, much to my delighted surprise, since I had heard the cast album--I saw her in a return engagement she brought back to Broadway), but I think Lansbury is her equal as an actress--I saw her Rose twice in Chicago before it went to NY. I think Buckley was musically the most thrilling, but she didn't have an ounce of warmth or humor (and I'm generally a fan of her). Didn't see Peters (I was Gypsied out at that point), saw Lupone twice--it was such a match that it didn't feel as exciting (though the best Herbie and Louise--and the worst lamb).

A mid-'80s West End production of Gypsy starring Petula Clark would have been interesting.

Bonnie Langford for 80's Rose!

[quote]Donna Murphy (and Petula Clark?) in Gypsy?

Donna Murphy sounds terrible in that clip. She sounds like she's drinking a Slurpee while trying to sing the song.

James Corden IS Ross in gender-reversed "Gypso"!

R546, Rosemary Clooney wrote in her book that Jose Ferrer brought his mistress along on their honeymoon and stashed her in a room in the same hotel.

Just watched Company. I liked it. The lead wasn’t great vocally otherwise was okay. Patti was great & some of the changes made worked. On fence about the gay ‘not getting married today ‘ I liked the blonde woman (she’s on a diet. Husband is on the wagon) anyway, I liked it more than west side story reinvention. And I forget if i posted about Six- it was cute & quick - it’s over by the time you get comfortable. I watched Hangman in London. It was ok.

Has anyone seen "The Minutes"? I thought it was okay, until the ending, which was something out of the 20s or 30s. Why this is on B'way is beyond me.

R562, A bootleg is already in circulation?

R562, do you mean you SAW it on Broadway or you WATCHED it on an electronic medium?

He means that the entire cast of Company came to his apartment and performed the show in his living room.

How much older is Patti than every other member of the cast?

[quote]How much older is Patti than every other member of the cast?

Let's just say that no other cast member has had body parts replaced.

No. I watched the show performed.

R569 Does Katrina sing with the fake accent?

R486, Obviously, you did not see it.

R548, Karen Olivo and Danny Burstein will both win Tony Awards for Moulin Rouge, but not Aaron.

You see a show, you watch a recording.

Imelda does Dorothy.

R572, I find it hard to believe that Karen Olivo will win over Adrienne Warren for playing Tina Turner. From everything I've heard, that is a star-making performance.

R575 Is Karen turning up?

Donna Murphy sings a quarter tone flat, from start to finish, in just about everything. What’s up with that?

Daly is the first to admit that the CD of Gypsy is terrible. She was sick when it was recorded & she begged them to let her redo some of her vocals later, but they didn’t. That said, Bob Lambert delivers the best version of “All I Need is the Girl,” so there’s that.

Lambert was the most insatiable bottom on Bway back in those days.

Lambert was the most insatiable bottom on Bway back in those days.

At the height of AIDS?

WHET Robert Lambert? (who turns 60 this year!)

[quote]Did Pamela Myers end up having a 'day job'? How does someone with such scarce credits pay the rent?

Pam Myers spent the mid-late 70s and early 80s in LA, as a regular on the syndicated Sha-Na-Na TV show. She also did a ton of stock, plus concert gigs. She was also married at the time, which helped greatly, especially when her son came along. She moved back to Cincinnati (where she grew up) around the early-90s, and eventually she and her hubby broke up. She will frequently spend time staying with Donna McKechnie, and go up for jobs in NYC. She was down to the wire - it was between her and Jayne Houdyshell - for Hattie when the DC "Follies" moved to NYC. It would have been a nice Sondheim reunion for her, too bad it didn't come through. Just before that, she did five months with "Tales of the City," playing Mouse's mother and understudying Judy Kaye as Anna Madrigal, when it played ACT in San Francisco.

R577,

Lou, darling,

I haven't seen you since the 1996 Tony Awards, the year I won my second.

Love,

D

[quote]She was down to the wire - it was between her and Jayne Houdyshell - for Hattie when the DC "Follies" moved to NYC.

Oh, that's too bad because I hated Jayne Houdyshell's Hattie. It was ridiculous with all her mugging.

r567 Patti is 71 and I think stritch was 46 when she played the role. Truly Patti looks good for her age but not at all like one of their contemporaries or just a slightly older friend. she's obviously and entirely from another generation which the content doesn't address so it doesn't work. In the last scene she looks like Lenk's mother or much older aunt, not merely a somewhat older friend so the advice she gives seems simply generational which means that Being Alive comes out of nowhere even more than usual

R582,Lambert is an associate casting director on Days of Our Lives. He casts the background and day players.

To answer an earlier question, yes, Katrina Lenk does sing with an accent and is the weakest element of the new "Company." She also keeps smiling inexplicably. She's fine playing cool and reserved characters but is wrong for this show.

Agree that Lansbury was the best Rose ever. Didn't see Merman, though.

Lansbury was the total package for Rose. Daly looked extremely right, acted the hell out of it but was an absolute shit singer ALL the time, not just at that recording session.

R496, I love you

Why doesn’t Adam Lambert do Bway? He always wanted to be a Bway star and his career seems to have stalled

Let’s just admit it. Bway has turned to shit.

There’s nothing much longtime theatre fan wants to particular see.

While I thought Moulin Rouge was fun, it would tell us a lot about the sad state broadway.

The show was fun but completely forgettable, like a 30 minute TV sitcom

Saw the recent production of Follies in London; also saw the original twice in Boston and the two revivals since. Thought the London production was first-rate, Imelda played Sally as a drunk and it worked. Loved both Danny Burstein and Rosalind Elias in the last Broadway revival. Thought the London production equaled the original Broadway version.

How long is the singer naked in the uncovered up non-broadcast (or movie-cast) version of "Akhnaten"?

R593 Broadway audiences are clamoring for non-stop screaming, yelling at the top of someone's range for an entire show (at least by one person).

are NOT clamouring, that is

[quote] Why doesn’t Adam Lambert do Bway? He always wanted to be a Bway star and his career seems to have stalled

He's fat, that's why.

Bajour!